A never-ending cycle

Published 12:16 pm, Saturday, April 27, 2013

Bridgeport, by local standards, is a big city. But its politics can be so insular, so incestuous, that there's little question why so many inside the city and outside consider it a hopeless cause.

Consider the events of the past week. The superintendent of schools, Paul Vallas, is the subject of a lawsuit over his qualifications to hold his position. He considers the suit a nuisance, but it's for the court to decide whether it has merit.

But it's been put on hold because a judicial marshal with long experience apparently failed to properly serve notice to the people being sued. This marshal is named Charles Valentino. He served last year on the mayor's charter revision commission, which aimed to upend the city school system and allow for an appointed Board of Education. Nearly every politically connected entity in the city supported its passage.

Is there any reason to believe Valentino was acting (or failing to act) at the behest of political powers whose grip would be weakened by a finding against the superintendent? There is not. But look back at that charter revision commission, which included, among others, the wife of a lawyer who represents the city and the mayor's deputy chief of staff.

Again, residents have to wonder -- is there no one else who can do these jobs? No one who is not neck-deep in city politics? Is everyone the uncle, cousin or brother-in-law of someone in power?